There was a crowd of great occasions last Sunday at the Ritrovo Bar in Forlimpopoli to await Marco Bronzetti, who left on May 28 to reach Cape North aboard a 1981 Vespa P200. Friends and relatives welcomed with a long applause the 61-year-old from Forlimpopoli who completed the 9,882 km of the route at 5:30 pm on June 23, realizing a real dream. In just under a month he had in fact lived a unique experience, reaching the highest point in Europe after crossing Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, the same route he then took on the return journey.
“My friends from the Vespa Club of Cesena told me that it would be the trip of a lifetime and they were right – explains Bronzetti -. It was an incredible experience and I was right to want to do it alone and without even being accompanied by music in the helmet’s Bluetooth earphones, because in this way I lived and savored every moment. A simple scent or situation was enough to bring to mind memories of the past that I had totally forgotten.”
So it was a sort of inner journey?
“Absolutely yes and from all points of view. While I was traveling on the Vespa I looked at the colors of the landscapes and I was moved: I cried, I laughed and I lived every kilometer to the fullest. The human side was also wonderful, because I met many people who helped me and with whom I made friends, chatting over a beer as if we had been friends for a long time”.
What was the most exciting moment?
“When I arrived at the North Cape it was a unique feeling, because I had achieved my goal. I was there for two days and after the fog when I arrived I couldn’t see anything, so much so that I struggled to dodge the reindeer along the road, luckily the next day the weather was good and there was a beautiful view. It was curious when I took the photo with my Vespa under the Globe, the monument depicting the globe at the North Cape. Many asked me to be photographed with her, because actually a person with such a vehicle is rarely seen in those parts, and after an hour I had to say that I had to leave: there would have been many other people who wanted to take a selfie ”.
Have friendship and human relationships been a constant in your journey?
“I have always found people who helped me, perhaps because with my Vespa I generated empathy. During the return trip to Italy, I had spent the night at a campsite and had to leave the next morning. As soon as I got on the Vespa I felt that the wheel had a problem, I asked what it was and many people moved to change it as soon as they realized it was flat. That was my spare wheel and so I didn’t have any others, but searching on social media I found the number of a Vespa assistance center that sent a guy with a spare wheel that was given to me as a gift. We met at a gas station and it was a great help, because in case of a flat I didn’t have any others”.
Was there a time when you were seriously in trouble?
“It was June 4th and I was crossing a fjord. The weather forecast was good so I set off, but suddenly it started raining, the wind came and it snowed. The weather conditions had become terrible but I couldn’t turn back so I forced myself to drive and keep my cool, knowing that there would be a refreshment point on the road. I didn’t want to look at the remaining kilometres to avoid losing precious energy and after almost five hours, around 6:30 pm, I arrived at a refuge where I spent the night”.
When he set out he had planned to take a month to complete the tour but instead the time was less. Has the route changed?
“By taking the train from Innsbruck to Hamburg I saved around a thousand kilometers and it was a good choice because otherwise I would have had to change tires again. However, the timetable was never on my mind and in fact some days I drove more than expected, especially when the weather was good. Everything went well and in addition to my family, the Vespa Club of Cesena and my former teammates from the VB of the ITC Carlo Matteucci of Forlì, I want to thank Maicol Missiroli, a member of the Vespa Club. Despite the difficult moment he was experiencing , worked on the mechanical part of the Vespa before leaving and I didn’t have any technical problems. His help was invaluable.”
Do you already have your next trip in mind?
“In the next few weeks I will be on the Riviera with my niece then maybe at the end of the summer I will return on the Vespa, but the journey will certainly be shorter: I will stay in Italy or at most I will go to Austria”.
